Thom Tillis: ‘No Place’ for Media Cartel Bill in NDAA, Bill Is ‘Backroom’ Bailout for Big Media

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said on Tuesday that the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), which he described as a “backroom” bailout for “big media,” should not be in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Tillis wrote, “The JCPA has no place in a defense authorization bill. This provision is simply a backroom deal to bail out Big Media for its failed business practices.”

Tillis spoke as congressional leaders are considering adding the media cartel bill into the National Defense Authorization Act.

Senate Republicans have been increasingly voicing their concern about including the JCPA and other extraneous legislation into the defense authorization bill.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) called to filibuster the NDAA over the move to potentially latch the media cartel bill onto the NDAA.

Cotton referred to the JCPA as a “payoff for liberal media companies to form a cartel to work with big tech that will hurt center-right outlets.”

Cotton said:

If Democrats insist on adding these extraneous measures to the bill, Republican senators should filibuster, and frankly, House Republicans, whose votes are necessary to pass it in the House, should not vote for it either, until the Democrats back down and pass a defense bill that is actually focused on our national security and supporting the troops.

Breitbart News senior technology correspondent Allum Bokhari wrote, “The media industry has thrown everything it has into passing this bill, well aware that there are hundreds of millions to billions of dollars of Big Tech money that could be funneled to them if it passes.”

Bokhari added, “Over the past two years, the media has fully deployed its vast clout with politicians, which extends across both parties, to get this legislation over the line, and has repeatedly failed to do so.”